$200K for Sandy Hook families in need

Dirk Perrefort

Updated 11:21 pm, Friday, January 18, 2013

NEWTOWN -- A $200,000 fund has been established to help with the immediate needs of the community following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, officials with the United Way announced Friday.

The news of the separate fund comes as former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has agreed to advise a transition team setting up a foundation to distribute the more than $8.5 million the United Way has received in the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.

Kim Morgan, executive director of the United Way of Western Connecticut, said the money for immediate needs comes not from the Sandy Hook School Support Fund, but from separate donors who wanted to help with short-term needs of the community and those affected by the tragedy.

Morgan said most of the short-term assistance money, about 75 percent, will be used to help families who are dealing with financial hardships such as lost wages following the Dec. 14 massacre.

The money will be used for other needs, including mental health services for those in the community still reeling from the shooting, which took the lives of 20 young students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Lieberman said Friday during a news conference at the Edmond Town Hall that he was impressed with the work already done by the transition team.

"When I was asked to take on this role, I felt honored and a sense of duty to do whatever I can to help," he said.

Lieberman said the "unimaginable horror" that unfolded that day at Sandy Hook is the worst tragedy to occur in the state during his lifetime. He added that the values, strength and unity exhibited by the community in the aftermath of the tragedy has "touched people throughout the world."

"It gives me confidence that the community can move forward from this tragedy that we will all never forget," Lieberman said.

Will Rodgers, chairman of the transition team, said Lieberman's experience helping the families and the nation heal after the "dark days" of 9/11 will be invaluable to the team and the foundation.

Rodgers said Lieberman's reputation as a no-nonsense straight talker will help to "alleviate any fears" people may have about the fund as it moves forward.

Rodgers and Morgan stressed that community involvement will be integral in deciding how the funds will be used in the future.

When asked about how the money would be used, Lieberman said that's up to the residents of Newtown to decide.

Morgan said donations continue to come into the fund, and range from pennies to checks for $150,000 from corporations. She said the United Way is not taking any fees for the early administration of the fund.

"When the United Way stepped in to serve as a steward of the fund, it was with the intent of turning the money over to the community," she said.